Monday, 23 February 2015

Ochroconis
species are primarily soil saprobes (live on decaying vegetative matter), found in the soil worldwide. As of 2014, there are thirteen recognized
species of Ochroconis.

Pathology:

Ochroconis
species have been recovered from central nervous system (CNS) infections as
well as pulmonary (lung) infections, from both immunocompromised and
immuocompetent hosts.In particular, Ochroconis gallopava is considered to be
a neurotropic opportunist and proposals have been made to place this fungus
into a new genus, Verruconis.

Ochroconis
species are considered to be mesophilic (preferring moderate temperatures)
however they can cause disease in several species of cold-blooded animals,
particularly fish such as coho salmon and rainbow trout.Ochroconis
species are known to cause encephalitis in chickens, turkeys and other fowl.

Macroscopic Morphology:

The rate of growth is rather slow growing as measured by
the expanding colony but will mature to produce conidia usually within 5 days.

The texture is described as velvety to felt-like or
floccose.

The colony colour is usually a reddish-brown to chocolate
brown to a dark olive-grey.The reverse
is a dark brown to black.

Ochroconis- same organism as above but with different background and lighting to show variations in texture and pigment. SAB, 30˚C, 3 weeks. (Nikon)

Ochroconis on SAB - colony center rises off and above the agar surface resembling and inverted shallow bowl. Looked like a small hollow mountain!

Below, right - shows the Reverse of the Ochroconis presented here. The lighter section which appears in the center of the larger colony is the area that has "cupped" and lifted off of the surface of the agar. (Nikon)

Microscopic Morphology:

Ochroconis
produces septate hyphae which are hyaline (clear) to pale brown in colour.

Conidiophores are also hyaline to pale brown. They arise erect
and unbranched from the hyphae and usually have a knobby or bent
appearance.The conidiophores have apical
denticles in a sympodial arrangement from which the conidia have formed.Conidia (2.5 – 4.5 µm X 11 – 18 µm) are
usually 2 to 4 celled, depending on the species.Conidia are cylindrical to club shaped and
after detachment from the conidiophore (denticle), an inconspicuous frill may
remain on both the denticle and the conidium base.

Ochroconis species - edge of growth of slide culture as initially viewed at low magnification. Hyphae radiating out from point of inoculation after 1 week of incubation.

(LPCB, 250X, DMD-108)

Ochroconis species - Conidia extending from hyphae now become evident at this higher magnification. (LPCB, 250X, Nikon)

Ochroconis species - as we once more increase magnification individual conidia attached to phialides can be seen in more detail. (LPCB, 400X, Nikon)

Ochroconis species - another view with conidia attached to their phialides. Brown pigmentation seen in lower right of photo. (LPCB, 400X, Nikon)

Ochroconis species - one more view. Remember, the fungus grows in three dimensions and even here, within the space between a microscope slide and a cover slip, hyphae and phialides extend forward, into the photo and some backwards, out of the photo. It is for this reason that the photos often appear to be out of focus as only those features that lie relatively flat along the focal plane appear clearly in the picture. (LPCB, 500X, Nikon)

Ochroconis species - a massive ammount of conidia with the most mature to the right where the brown pigment is most evident. (LPCB, 500X, Nikon)

Ochroconis species -Numerous phialides with attached conidia shown here. Phialides seen bearing multiple conidia. Dark pigmentation is also evident as the colony ages. Most conidia are two-celled, some showing a slight constriction near their center, others (center) showing the furthest end of the conidium being larger than that nearest the phialide from which it originated. The arrow points to a phialide which has lost it's conidium -a slight scare remains.

(LPCB, 1000X, DMD-108)

Ochroconis species -a mass of darkly pigmented, septate hyphae as well as a dark blue conidium seen near the left of the photo (LPCB, 1000X, DMD-108)

Ochroconis species -Hyphae with phialides bearing conidia. Arrows point to phialies with multiple (two) conidia, the one on the left showing the scar remaining after the conidium has detatched.

(LPCB, 1000X, DMD-108)

Ochroconis species -a three-celled conidium appears to be present along with the more numerous two-celled conidia. (LPCB, 1000+10X, DMD-108)

Ochroconis species -center of photo, conidium attached to a long phialide.

(LPCB, 1000X, DMD-108)

Ochroconis species -Nice photo of a phialide bearing two conidia attached to the parent hypha.

Ochroconis species -yet another photo showing much the same. Phialides bearing multiple conidia with the arrows showing the ragged attachment points which remain after the conida have detatched.

(LPCB, 1000+10X, DMD-108)

Ochroconis species -septation within the hyphae are clearly visible as is the developing brown pigmentation. Tree Conidia still attached to their brownish pigmented phialides which extend from the hyphae. Near center, one phialide is seen with a detached conidium nearby.

(LPCB, 1000X, DMD-108)

Ochroconis species -Aging phialides & conidia. Brown phialide in center of photo has a thinner denticle at it's apex to which the conidium is attatched.

Ochroconis species - Here we are looking at the conidium 'head-on' so it appears spherical. The conidium is attatched to the hypha by this darkly pigment, and apparently degenerating, phialide-denticle structure. (LPCB, 1000+10X, DMD-108)

Ochroconis species - Almost done here. A phialide bearing two conidia.

I'm uncertain as to which specific species I have pictured in this blog as the conidia occasionally show more than 2 cells and can be constricted in the center. The majority of the conidia from the isolate presented here are two-celled and rather ellipsoidal or cylindrical in shape

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About Me

Born in Hamilton Ontario Canada of Latvian parents, educated at The University of Western Ontario, (UWO)-London, Ontario
Met my wonderful American wife (Boston area) on a 1971 school trip to Quebec City.
Own registered company 'ThunderHouse Instruments' where I attempt to keep out of trouble making musical instruments, primarily Bass Guitars.
Earn a wage as a Medical Laboratory Technologist. Have worked in several Ontario hospitals. Involved in some Medical research with published papers.

Disclaimer

The information and photographs presented here were compiled for my own entertainment and should not be used as an absolute reference for medical and/or diagnostic purposes. Although I strive to ensure all information is accurate some errors or differences of interpretation may occur. Any errors mine alone. Fine text books, peer reviewed scientific papers and other internet references are available for detailed descriptions and analysis.

My intent here was simply to share some of the pretty pictures I've taken over the years.There is artistry and beauty in all of these organisms!

Enjoy!

Yuri

An Apology

My apology for the lame title of this Blog. My wife suggested I try 'Blogging' to pass the time while recuperating from a major illness. This entire endeavor started somewhat as a joke, my never intending to do much more. Put on the spot, I typed in "Fun With Microbiology - What's Buggin' You?" I now wish I could have thought of something clever and a bit more dignified.

Somehow it all got away from me and I find myself enslaved to the site, trying to find more and more interesting "photogenic" organisms to document.

Another apology appears elsewhere in this blog, however it is worth reiterating here. I apologize for the disproportional amount of fungal posts as this site should be about 'Microbiology'. As I had no original writing to contribute, I chose to share some photos which I had taken. While I would wish to have a somewhat equal balance of bacterial, mycobacterial & parasite posts, the majority of photogenic organisms that come my way are fungal.

I hope this blog site has evolved into a collection of photo-essays on organisms covered in a bit more detail than found at other sites or in most textbooks. I was always disappointed in the single photo depicting an organism as found in most textbooks. Microorganisms are fascinating creatures which exhibit diversity and cannot be summed up in a few short paragraphs or depicted with a single black & white photo tucked into the bottom corner of a page.

Microorganism are quite clever too - they have managed to evade our best efforts in being controlled for long or to be eradicated. As my prof once said "Microorganisms don't read textbooks so they don't know how they should behave."

Note:

Blogger's text editor has at times refused to accept the symbol μm for micron (Greek lower case letter for mu) when pasted directly from my Microsoft Word Program. Blogger's text editor converts my μm into mm (1000X larger). I have tried to catch and correct this wherever it occurs but the reader must be aware of the scale of structures described and apply the dimension intended. 1 μm = 1 Millionth of a Meter

Note on Agar Media Used

As a community hospital, we stocked only the most basic of mycological media.

The majority of plate photos are taken of cultures on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar which in our lab we refer to as SAB for short. Others my condense this to SDA. Please be aware that in this blog they refer to one and the same media. I apologize for any confusion.

Some photos may be from Mycosel™ of Dermasil™ selective agars while others may be from the nutritionally minimal Corn Meal Agar (CMA). The agar used will be stated when appropriate.

I would have liked to have used Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) in some situations.

Microphotographs

All Micro photographs displayed on this blog were taken by myself except if noted otherwise.

Medical Technology Related Sites

Microbiology In Pictures

Please visit ‘Microbiology In Pictures’, a wonderful site created by Hans N. where you may be able to locate “Some pictures you may have been looking for but couldn't find...”

CMLTO

College Of Medical Laboratory Technologists of Ontario (Click To Redirect)

CSMLS

Canadian Society For Medical Laboratory Science

Mitchener Institute

Mitchener Institue

0SMT

Ontario Society of Medical Technologists

Health Canada

Center for Disease Control (Canada)

CSM

Canadian Society of Microbiologists

CDC

Center For Disease Control (U.S.A.)

CACMLE

Colorodo Association for Continuing Medical Laboratory Education

SAIT

Southern Alberta Institute of Technology

Wadsworth -New York State Dept. of Health

Mycology Critiques - Click to Redirect

University of Adelaide

Mycology Online -Click to Redirect

Mycology Online

An excellent Mycology site created by the University of Adelaide in Australia.They have a fantastic Glossary of Mycological Terms which can be accessed by clicking here.

Mount Sinai Mycology

Exellent Mycology Site from my colleauges at Mount Sinai (Click to Redirect)

U.W.O.

University of Western Ontario

Fungal Reference Books

Below is a list of fungal reference books I found of help in preparing this blog. Many other fine texts books and reference materials are available and the reader should decide what suits their own needs. For ease of locating these books or further information about them, I have added links to Amazon. I have no personal connection with Amazon and these books can no doubt be obtained through other sellers or their publishers.Note: Some prices through secondary sources are outrageous. Try the original publisher first and science libraries may carry these publications also.

While most of the fungi discussed in this blog are of clinical importance, some can be found in this publication.

Ash & Orihel’s Atlas of Human Parasitology

Click on Icon to redirct to Amazon

Ash & Orihel’s Atlas of Human Parasitology

An excellent, but rather expensive, reference book on Human Parasitology. Extensive photo gallery with short, concise text.Click on photo icon to redirect to Amazon.

Please Visit My Other Blogs

Tales From The Paddle - Short Stories based on my trips to the rivers of Northern Ontario, Canada (Click Icon To Redirect)

ThunderHouse Instruments - My workshop, where outside of the Microbiology Laboratory, I dabbled in making bass guitars amongst other instruments. (Click Icon To redirect)

Home, Sweet Home...

Contact Me - Mail

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Okay, here it is. You can contact me via the icon above. I've reluctantly added it but may regret it. Call it an experiment.

I welcome any comments related to my posts, be it positive or constructive criticism. Please note that I probably will not respond to most comments as I barely have the time and energy to add new content to this blog.I absolutely will not offer to diagnose your ailment, be it that dry patch on your backside, that thingy you pulled out of your ear or that green stuff growing on the sides of your refrigerator! Please do not send me your photos for identification. I am not here to help you with your illness or your thesis! Finally, please realize, I am not a physician therefore I cannot offer medical advice.

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I freely share all my photographs on this blog site to all those who may find them interesting and useful. However, I do ask that you do not claim them as your own work, and give this site or myself credit when they are used publicly.

Nikon photographs are at 300 dpi while the DMD-108 defaults to 72 dpi which was ideal for web publishing. This resolution may be inadequate for print publishing however there is a web site entitled 'All About Digital Photos' which claims otherwise. Please keep this in mind if you request the use of my photos.

Please do let me know where and how you chose to use these photos as such feedback may assist me in deciding which posts to elaborate on or expand when I come across additional pertinent material.

A final note - I do not offer many sources or citations for the information offered in this blog. Most of the information can be found in commonly available textbooks, some of which I've listed in the sidebar above. More specific information can be found in peer reviewed papers & journals. I have tried to relay the content as accurately as possible, however, as the title of this blog implies, I do this for "fun". Have your own fun by conducting your own literature searches. Immerse yourself in microorganisms - you won't regret it!!